The recently released Taiwanese streaming show Women In Taipei (台北女子圖鑑) is being panned online for its stereotypical depictions of the differences between northern and southern Taiwan, with some people harassing its two screenwriters online.
Adapted from the popular Japanese TV series Tokyo Girl, which aired from 2016 to 2017, Women In Taipei debuted last month on Disney+ with an all-star cast featuring Kuei Lun-mei (桂綸鎂), Wang Po-chieh (王柏傑), Rhydian Vaughan (鳳小岳) and Chang Hsiao-chuan (張孝全).
The drama follows the life of Lin I-shan (林怡姍), played by Kuei. Lin, who was born in Tainan and moved to Taipei for work, struggles with relationships, her job and life as she strives to become the woman she aspires to be.
Photo courtesy of Disney+
The first three episodes that have been aired so far have generated heated discussions about cultural comparisons between urban and rural life, and north and south Taiwan.
Taipei is depicted as a cold and detached concrete jungle with lines such as “authentic Taipei people would not go sticking their noses into other people’s business” or “girls in Taipei are afraid of poverty, ugliness and failure.”
The differences between the north and south in the series are “untrue, hackneyed and stereotypical,” an online commentator said.
To highlight the difference between Tainan’s Yongkang District (永康), where Lin grew up, and Taipei’s Yongkang Street (永康街), where she works, the show incorrectly depicts Yongkang District as rural, showing fish farms that do not exist in the area, people said.
Some people said it was likely the screenwriters have never been to Tainan, while others said the series depicted Tainan residents as slow.
Some people have harassed the screenwriters on social media.
Award-winning screenwriter Wu Luo-ying (吳洛纓) called the behavior “cyberbullying” in a post on Facebook on Saturday, adding that people harassing the writers do not “truly understand the role and decisionmaking power of writers in the film and television industry.”
The production team and the streaming platform should face criticism from the audience as well, she said, adding that screenwriters often have to satisfy demands from executive producers to get paid.
The audience usually praises actors and directors for a hit show, but blame screenwriters for an unsatisfactory one, she said.
People familiar with the show said that some parts of the story were added by the production company, citing a scene in which Lin wears makeup for a job interview that “makes her look like she is not from Taipei” and is rejected for the job.
The negative feedback has generated a wave of memes and discussions on social media, which can be seen as a successful example of “negative marketing,” some people said.
Tu Cheng-che (杜承哲), a doctor at Cheng Ching Hospital’s thoracic surgery division, posted a meme of the show on Facebook featuring six celebrities from Tainan, including K-pop idol Chou Tzu-yu (周子瑜) and supermodel Lin Chi-ling (林志玲).
“I just wanted to show that both Taipei and Tainan are good,” he wrote in the post.
Additional reporting by I Hui-tzu and CNA
Several Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) officials including Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) are to be summoned for questioning and then transferred to prosecutors for holding an illegal assembly in Taipei last night, the Taipei Police said today. Chu and two others hosted an illegal assembly and are to be requested to explain their actions, the Taipei City Police Department's Zhongzheng (中正) First Precinct said, referring to a protest held after Huang Lu Chin-ju (黃呂錦茹), KMT Taipei's chapter director, and several other KMT staffers were questioned for alleged signature forgery in recall petitions against Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators. Taipei prosecutors had filed
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
President William Lai (賴清德) has appointed former vice president Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) to attend the late Pope Francis’ funeral at the Vatican City on Saturday on his behalf, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today. The Holy See announced Francis’ funeral would take place on Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square. The ministry expressed condolences over Francis’ passing and said that Chen would represent Taiwan at the funeral and offer condolences in person. Taiwan and the Vatican have a long-standing and close diplomatic relationship, the ministry said. Both sides agreed to have Chen represent Taiwan at the funeral, given his Catholic identity and
Lawmakers from the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday established a friendship group with their counterparts in Ukraine to promote parliamentary exchanges between the two countries. A ceremony in Taipei for the Taiwan-Ukraine Parliamentary Friendship Association, initiated by DPP Legislator Chen Kuan-ting (陳冠廷), was attended by lawmakers and officials, including Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) and European Economic and Trade Office in Taiwan Director Lutz Gullner. The increasingly dire situation in Ukraine is a global concern, and Taiwan cannot turn its back when the latter is in need of help, as the two countries share many common values and interests,